The present invention refers to a rail loading train for transporting as well as loading and unloading long rails, and in paticular to a rail loading train of the type having a loading car supported on undercarriages for movement in an operating direction and provided with rail supports which are fitted with rollers for carrying the long rails, and optionally may have vertical spacers extending between the rollers.
German Patent Nos. DE 12 08 326 B and DE 27 34 748 B disclose a rail loading train of this type, with the train comprised of a plurality of cars coupled to each other. The rail supports for carrying the long rails being transported are mounted to the machine frame of the cars and spaced from each other longitudinally in direction of the track. The rail supports are provided with rollers which are sequentially arranged in a direction transversely to the machine frame and respectively carry a rail. The rollers are separated from each other by elongated spacers for distancing neighboring rails extending transversely to the machine frame. A drawback of such rail supports is the occurrence of a friction between the rail base and the adjacent spacer, which has to be overcome and requires significant pulling forces during loading and unloading of the rails.